Abbott too busy to talk about in-state tuition for immigrants

AUSTIN – Attorney General Greg Abbott talked Thursday about posting for-sale signs with his real-estate-agent mom when he was a kid in Duncanville. She was “thrust into the workforce after my dad had a heart attack,” he told the Texas Association of Realtors.

He talked about the tree falling on him as a young man, an incident that left him “forever paralyzed” but didn’t dampen his spirit.

He talked about keeping Texas “exceptional,” saying he wants to be governor to do just that.

He talked, in general, about the need for low taxes, business-choking regulation, a reduced role for government in the private sector.

He talked about his entrepreneurial friends who started the Taco Shack, and their struggles with the federal health care law.

He talked about “right-to-work laws that prevent the union abuses you see in some commnities, like Detroit. How would you like to be a real estate agent in Detroit? Talk about a shrinking market.”

He talked about his wife, a former educator and the daughter of two educators, and the need to prioritize roads, water and schools.

Asked after his speech about the issue burning up the race for lieutenant governor – Texas allowing in-state tuition for certain immigrants who are in the country illegally – Abbott was out of time.

“I’ve got to get to Round Rock,” said Abbott, who earlier had told the members of the crowd he’d delayed his speech to the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce so he could address them.